Davis Joint Unified School District and Davis Teachers Association begin negotiations

Davis Joint Unified School District meets with Davis Teachers Association on Feb. 19, 2026 to discuss negotiations for the rest of the school year. (Julia Heron-Watts / Aggie)

The ‘Sunshine Proposal’ aims to revise salary, benefits and class size for the 2025-26 academic year

On Feb. 19, the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) Board of Education met to discuss ongoing negotiations between the Davis Teachers Association (DTA) and the school district.

The current DTA-DJUSD negotiations, named the Sunshine Proposal, aim to build upon the existing collective bargaining agreement between the two parties. The current agreement, ratified in 2024 and updated in 2025, is now being amended for 2026 with revisions meant for the four remaining months of the school year.

These revisions include increased prep time during the workday, increased work year (longer contracts), manageable class sizes, improved salary and benefits, association rights, developmental programs for special education students and Davis School for Independent Study caseloads, according to DJUSD Associate Superintendent Laura Juanitas.

In addition, the DTA also requested an update to an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding teachers’ extended time and an additional appendix to provide more consistent procedures in the instance of staff discipline. The DTA intends for these updates to help strengthen the working relationship between teachers and the district.

President of the DTA Amanda Rayls spoke on the importance of having these negotiations.

“Contract negotiations are sometimes framed as a process about dollars and percentages, but at their core, they are about people,” Rayls said. “They are about stability, respect and most importantly, our students. Educators show up early, stay late, respond to emails at night, plan lessons on weekends and carry the emotional weight of supporting children through their academic, social and personal challenges. Our commitment does not fluctuate with budget cycles or enrollment trends. It is constant.”

A full-time teacher at the Robert E. Willett Elementary School, Rayls emphasized to the school board how a consensus on the negotiations will benefit the school district as a whole. Rayls highlighted that reaching an agreement was not just for the betterment of the teachers, but ultimately to preserve a quality environment and faculty for DJUSD students.

“A healthy district depends on a strong relationship between its educators and leadership,” Rayls said. “Negotiations should not feel adversarial; they should feel collaborative. When teachers feel heard, respected and valued, our schools are stronger. [...] We cannot negotiate simply to get through the next year. We must negotiate to build a district where talented educators want to stay. Competitive compensation and health benefits, manageable workloads and meaningful professional respect are not luxuries; they are investments. When we fail to invest in educators, we pay the price in turnover, burnout and instability. And our students feel that impact most deeply.”

Hiram Jackson, president of the DJUSD Board of Education, concurred with the importance of the district and the teacher unions' continued efforts to amend the agreement.

“I look forward to ongoing dialogue,” Jackson said. “No action is required for this item [at the moment, since] a lot of the conversation [will] happen in closed sessions.”

Updates to the negotiations are set to be provided at future meetings. The meeting also briefly touched on DJUSD’s recent announcement of employee terminations. Classified under Resolution No. 36-26, two positions — Administrative Assistant and Facilities Specialist — will be affected after the current school year. The school board noted that this decision was made due to the termination of funding and reduction of need due to low enrollment, respectively.

Juanitas spoke about the school board’s actions prior to notifying employees of the layoffs.

“We connected with the employees impacted by the reduction enforced resolution so that they did not find out with the posting of the agenda,” Juanitas said. “Employees who receive a layoff notice maintain their job, income and benefits through the end of this school year.”

The DJUSD Board of Education meets on the first and third Thursday of each month in the City of Davis Community Chambers at 23 Russell Blvd. More information can be found online.

tten by: Yuenjo Fan — city@theaggie.Wriorg